‘First Blind Dates’ raise awareness for Guide Dogs Week

The heartfelt video below features four guide dog owners meeting strangers for the first time over dinner in the style of popular Channel 4 show ‘First Dates’.

Almost two million people in the UK today are living with sight loss that has a significant impact on their daily lives. Of those, around 180,000 rarely leave their homes alone and can lead lonely, isolated lives.

One date could change your life forever but in Guide Dog’s latest video with Don’t Panic, we show that one dog can make all the difference.

The video launches the annual Guide Dogs Week running from 7th to 15th October and has been created to inspire people all over the UK to #Moveit for Money and do something they love to raise vital funds for Guide Dogs. More people than ever need a guide dog and the money raised will help the charity ensure that people with sight loss don’t lose out on life.

Four guide dog owners meet strangers for the first time to tell their real-life stories, they reveal the challenges of living with sight loss and the huge difference a guide dog has made to their lives. But as ever, the challenges of dating make for some awkward moments that even the most intuitive dog couldn’t guide you through.

Meet the daters
Guide Dog owner and adventure-junkie Cheryl Bradshaw is 33 from Glasgow who has been blind since birth. Her date, Mark Williams, is 31 from Liverpool.

Thrill seeker and Guide Dog owner Nicki Cockburn is aged 39, from Cardiff. She met Harji Dillion, a 44-year-old RnB music fan.

Sociable Guide Dog owner Laura Bradley is aged 33 from Scotland, and met marathon loving Zeeshan Shamsi, who is aged 32.

Music fan and Guide Dog owner Paul Johnson, aged 46 lost his sight at nine years old. He met travel enthusiast Lorraine Rogers aged 50.

Guide dogs for the blind rely on donations to continue our life-changing work – every pound raised makes a difference to people in the UK living with sight loss.

There are almost two million people in the UK living with sight loss today, a number which is predicted to double to four million by 2050, so we need your support to reach as many people who are blind or partially sighted as possible.

The work they do is amazing and their goal is for everyone who experiences sight loss to be able to live their lives the way they choose and feel confident, independent and supported in the world.

The UK-wide charity, founded in 1934, are specialists in giving people who are blind or partially sighted the means to live life on their own terms and to step out into the world again.